The artist must be in his work as God is in creation, invisible and all-powerful; one must sense him everywhere but never see him.

Talent is long patience.

I do not like to "interest" the public with myself.

Do not imagine you can exorcise what oppresses you in life by giving vent to it in art.

The one way of tolerating existence is to lose oneself in literature as in a perpetual orgy.

Since you are now studying geometry and trigonometry, I will give you a problem. A ship sails the ocean. It left Boston with a cargo of wool. It grosses 200 tons. It is bound for Le Havre. The mainmast is broken, the cabin boy is on deck, there are 12 passengers aboard, the wind is blowing East-North-East, the clock points to a quarter past three in the afternoon. It is the month of May. How old is the captain?

(Egypt) is a great place for contrasts: splendid things gleam in the dust.